More Pressing Matters Like Voldemort
by Laterose
Summary: Sequel to The Trial Of Sirius Black. You asked for it - You got it! Harry's time at Remus' house before school starts is far from uneventful. Yes, I've gone and finished it!!! no seriously, It's a very bad ending.
1. A Home At Last

** HI. I'm Laterose, by the way. This fic is a sequel to The Trial of Sirius Black, on request by – well, pretty much everyone really. I suggest you read that one first if you haven't already, but if you are good at following that kind of stuff then you needn't. **

More Pressing Matters – Like Voldemort. Chapter 1 – A Home at Last.

Dear Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia 

_My Godfather has been let off. I went to his trial a few days ago and am now staying with him and another friend. The Headmaster says that I probably won't be coming back, and he will be writing to you too, but he said that I must write and tell you so you won't worry. Well, you won't be seeing me again unless I come visit sometime. Thanks for looking after me and everything . _

_Harry._

Well… It looked all right, but… well, to tell the truth it was just decidedly ungrateful. What else could he put though? 

Still undecided, but not too worried about it, Harry leant back in the kitchen chair and brushed his hair out of his eyes. The Dursley's wouldn't really mind if they got the letter the second they were about to go and meet Harry off the school train at the end of next year. 

In fact, Harry thought it might do them some good, to live in fear for a while as they always did towards the end of the summer term. But Professor Dumbledore would probably not stand for it. Oh well. He could do this later. Let the Dursleys be someone else's problem until he could be bothered. 

Sirius chose that moment to come tramping down the stairs in his new boots, which he was very proud of and didn't miss an opportunity to show off. 

He came into the kitchen so noticeably that Harry could have sworn that the spider hanging over the sink looked up. 

"Have you finished yet?" asked Sirius. 

"No," said Harry. "Well, it is finished, only it sounds really stupid when you say it aloud."

"So?" said Sirius with a shrug. "Dumbledore said he had to write them a letter, he didn't say you had to be polite." He picked up the drafted letter, read it, and chuckled. "Reminds me of the number of times I had to write apology letters when I was at school," he said with a distant smile, and pocketed it.

"Ah yes," said a voice from the doorway. "Dear Mr and Mrs. McNair. I am really sorry about the misunderstanding of which you have been informed. I honestly didn't mean to break his arm, I was only trying to see whether the ancient goblin's club Professor Binns showed us still worked…"

"You weren't meant to hear that," growled Sirius, as Harry laughed. 

"I hear everything," said Remus, groaning as he heaved his tired body off the door jamb. "Especially you, thumping down the stairs in those boots, Sirius. Honestly, you'd think we'd been attacked by a herd of rabid elephants, the way the house shook."

Sirius wiggled his nose, in such a dog like way that Harry had to clutch his sides to stop them from bursting. "Well I like having boots that fit," Sirius shot back at his friend. "Which you would understand if you'd stop wearing footwear so small that you never lose them when you transform – accidentally in the middle of the day."

"Sirius," moaned Remus. "That was ages ago." 

"Yet the wide honest truth," said Sirius with a wink at Harry, who stuffed his fist in his mouth like Ron so often did. It didn't help much.

~

Harry was alone in the house. "Don't wander too far off," he had been told. "If you want to explore the village, take your wand with you."

Harry wanted to. It had taken him some time to get used to the free run of a whole house, where he could do whatever he liked, and eat whatever he liked, short of wrecking the place, and the potions on the back shelf of Remus' kitchen cupboard. 

Harry had been shown these the first day. Sirius had rolled his eyes – "the boy gets enough of that from Snape, skip the lecture" – but Remus had insisted. 

After about five minutes, Harry knew why. All of the concoctions in there were very dangerous – most were poisonous – and Snape himself had made some of them. Harry didn't feel like willingly drinking anything that his potion's master brewed, whether for the good or not.

Harry closed the front door carefully behind him and pocketed the key. He looked around at the houses surrounding him. He had met some of the neighbours, but not all. 

Some of the neighbours had been pleased to see him, others had not. Remus and Sirius had told him not to take it personally. Harry was glad that he'd had plenty of practise at this.

He even knew some of the locals already. Harry had wondered for a while on the first day, whether it would be a good thing or a bad thing, living so near to –

"Hi there, Harry!"

Harry had known it wouldn't be long. He could have sworn that Colin sat for hours at his window, just watching for Harry to come out.

"Hi Colin," he said with a little more enthusiasm than usual. Colin was delighted.

"Listen Harry, I'm really sorry, but I promised my Dad I'd help him with his rounds today," said the younger boy with fear and apology in his eyes. "You don't mind, do you?"

"of course not."

Still looking as though he'd personally let Harry down somehow, Colin waved, and with a final, "bye Harry!" he'd climbed into Mr.Creevy's Milkvan, and was off. 

Harry waved back. Who cared if Colin was annoying? Harry was going to spend as much time with him as Colin wanted in the future, well, as long as it didn't cut into times when he slept, when he was with Ron and Hermione, Quidditch practices, when he did his homework, or when he was spending time with Sirius, or in fact gloating over the tremendous fine Lucius Malfoy had received after blackmailing the judge at Sirius' trial. 

That left Colin about five minutes a day, which was just enough time before he exploded with pride, which Harry didn't particularly want happening just now. He had just bought a whole load of new clothes after all. 

The three of them had gone to Diagon Alley the Day before. Everyone avoided Sirius so obviously that it was funny to see him walking ahead and carving a human path before them. People had started to relax after a while though, when Harry showed them, even more obviously, how strongly he believed in Sirius' innocence. 

The barber had nearly fainted when they'd told him he had to cut Sirius Black's hair, but it had all been over in a flash. The change afterwards, was so astounding that Harry had stared at him all the way down the street. He had lost about fourteen years of age.

Harry, as well as Sirius, had treated himself to a full new set of Hogwarts robes (he was finally growing – "Good thing too," Sirius had said, "Or we'd have had to start feeding him raw meat.") and a fitting pair of jeans. Remus had promised that he would grow into his T-Shirts one day, though he doubted it.

Harry set off down the road. It was a nice morning, with the Gibbous moon still visible just above him in the milky blue sky. 

Not many people were up. It was Sunday, and all the Muggles – there weren't many – were still in bed, peaceful, and unaware. 

The families of Wizards who left for work early in the morning had left them to it. It was too quiet a day to worry about anything to do with Voldemort. 

Because Fudge hadn't kept it locked up for long. Arthur Weasley had done his job. Dumbledore now had complete control over half the Ministry.

Harry had been thinking about this for a while before he realised that he had come further than he'd been shown the other day. He was about to turn back, when he noticed something that caught his eye.

It was a cluster of trees, not far off. Checking his wand – you can never be too careful – Harry moved towards it. Following the line of trees, he discovered that they were in fact outlining a large circle of land. Harry could not see past them, nor could he walk through the, nor could he climb them. They were thick, spiky pine trees and every time he tried his hands ripped. He made a few more circuits but without success. 

It's probably just an old dump, he thought as he put the key in the lock, back at Remus' house. I don't know why I'm so interested. 

But all the same, he made a resolve to ask Sirius and Remus about it as soon as they got back.    


	2. An Invitation

**Couldn't any of you guess? Oh well, it's my story; all shall be made clear to you.

Thanks to all reviewers! 

Same goes to Evil Snapple Pie, Amazing Typo and anyone else who gave me wicked ideas – I need them. After the next few chapters I don't have a clue what's going to happen… **

More Pressing Matters – Like Voldemort Chapter 2 – An invitation

Harry picked at his breakfast. It was too early really for anyone to be up, but he could never sleep, these days. He was afraid that if he fell asleep, something sinister would happen and he wouldn't be there to prevent it. 

Or maybe he just didn't want to see what he was capable of dreaming.

The two adults were still upstairs, asleep. They had got back so late last night that hey barely had time to eat before collapsing into bed. Harry hadn't even had a chance to ask about the pine trees. 

Harry grinned slightly as he heard Sirius snore loudly. Sirius didn't sleep well. 

He had nightmares every other night, and Harry had heard muffled thumps from his bedroom just about every five minutes, after he woke up in the middle of the twilight hours. 

Sirius slept in the spare room. Harry slept in what Remus had referred to as the box room. Both men had offered Harry the use of their own rooms, (there was no room in either to share) but Harry liked it in there.

It wasn't small, for him anyway, and it was cosy, and had a large window that let all of the sunlight shine through in the morning. Harry didn't think it had ever been used for storing boxes though. 

For one thing, he had found a loose floorboard (the first thing he had looked for without knowing it) under the rug with a large space underneath. It was so big that Harry couldn't get his arm inside enough to feel the corners. 

Harry didn't need to use it though. All of his brand new birthday cards (people had sent them rather sheepishly when they realised they'd forgotten over the excitement of Sirius' trial, which had landed on his birthday) were set out on the windowsill. 

All of his school things sat in a corner, his clothes hung on pegs nearby. A box under the bed held any spare things that didn't have a space, like underwear, and the bed itself was the biggest Harry had ever had. 

The walls were bare, but Harry liked this, because it reminded him everyday that his time in Remus' house would not be a permanent stay. 

Sirius was already looking for a house – his old one had been searched and then demolished to make room for more houses. Apparently, Remus had told Harry in secret, this had been an enormous blow to Sirius. 

All of his things had been confiscated, and the rooms where he had spent so many years with his close friends and small family, had been crushed. Literally.

Sirius had not met up with his family yet. They lived in Northern Australia; Harry had been surprised to find out. But he hadn't been as surprised to discover that it had been because of Sirius that they had left the country. 

Harry didn't blame them. Neither did Sirius. Harry knew that if he found out that he was related to Peter Pettigrew in any way, he might well hang himself. Well, not really.

Harry realised suddenly that while his mind had been drifting, the cereal in his bowl had gone soft and squidgy. 

He frowned at the grinning Russian on the cereal box who was dancing around the cardboard while a little speech bubble following him said: "Veroslav's corny crunchables. Guaranteed never to go soft and squidgy." 

Harry dumped the remains of his cereal into the outside bin. He hadn't been very hungry in the first place anyway. 

He noticed that the fence surrounding the overgrown garden was very hick and high, and didn't have any trouble guessing why. It was there in case Remus Lupin went on the rampage one night, in maniac wolf form. 

Carefully, he clambered up onto the dustbin and peered over the top. Turning his eyes deliberately East, Harry could see the circle of pine trees up the road. From this angle, he could see that they stood in a depression in the land. 

THUMP. 

Looking up at the sound, Harry lost his footing for a second. He clung onto the fence for dear life. 

When his courage returned he dropped to the ground. Straightening his glasses, he ran back into the house. He climbed the stairs three at a time and burst into Sirius' bedroom.

A large pile of blankets, sheets and Sirius was sprawled on the floor. The latter was still asleep. Without turning around, Harry could tell that Remus was behind him. He felt a hand on his shoulder.

"You shouldn't be up."

"Neither should you," said Harry. "Will he be all right?"

"Eventually," said Remus, pulling Harry out gently and closing the door. Harry wasn't sure whether he liked the sound of that. 

He heard a groan from within the spare room and was all set to go back in there when Remus knocked loudly on the door.

"Up, lazy!" he called, "it's a beautiful morning!"

"Oh, shut up," answered a muffled voice from within, and then a rude exclamation when Sirius realised he was on the floor.

~

The kitchen table was strewn all over with parchment and newspapers. Remus was going through them; bleary eyes inches away from each page. A very disgruntled Sirius was glancing at them briefly while he fiddled with his bacon. 

Harry had his nose deep in 'Curses and Hexes That Allow You To Do Just About Anything', which Hermione had thoughtfully sent him for his birthday, while occasionally running a hand absently along his forehead.

This last was annoying Sirius. He squirmed around a little in his chair, watching his Godson. In the end he said;

"Is your scar bothering you, Harry?"

"What?" said Harry, startled, looking up from his book. Sirius repeated the question.

"Oh," said Harry. "No, not much."

"What do you mean, not much?" growled Sirius. 

"Nothing," said Harry. And then, when both men raised their eyebrows: "I mean, it stings a bit but it always does that nowadays anyway. I don't know why you're making such a fuss about it."

His gaze slightly averted unless he caught Sirius' eyes – he would have to tell the truth then – Harry missed the worried glance that Remus and Sirius exchanged. He changed the subject.

"Remus, what's behind that line of pine trees on the next street?"

Remus' eyebrows snapped together as he put down his paper – three days old. Sirius choked on a bit of bacon but swallowed it quickly and said;

"You are never to go back there Harry, do you hear me?"

"Why not?" asked Harry innocently.

"Never you mind," said Sirius. Remus glared at him.

"It's just an old dump, Harry," he said as Sirius yelped and screwed up the corners of his eyes in pain. Harry recognised the symptoms of someone who's just had their foot trodden on.

"Then why mustn't I - "

"It's dangerous," said Remus. Something in his semi-calm face told Harry that Sirius had just given him a taste of his own medicine. "Lots of sharp bits and pieces, rubbish slides and things, no one goes there any more in case they get hurt. And neither are you," he finished firmly, the movement of his torso giving away the cause of Sirius' next yelp.

Scarcely had they finished breakfast than something very small and fluffy came whizzing through the window. Harry stood up and grabbed Pig around his middle.

"That's Ron's owl isn't it?" said Sirius. 

"Yes," said Harry as he glanced at the name on the envelope. "It's for you," he said, surprised, chucking the letter at Sirius, who nearly dropped it in the milk jug. 

"Pig, stay put," Harry told the owl, giving him a sharp tap on the head to keep him still.

Sirius scanned the parchment Pig had brought, grinned, and handed it to Remus. Harry was having too much trouble holding pig to even ask what it said. 

"That's nice of them," said Remus folding the letter.  

Harry gave up. Pig flew wildly around the room hooting at the top of his voice. 

"What's got him so worked up?" Harry wondered aloud. And then, to Remus he added, "What's nice?"

"We are cordially invited to the Weasley's house this afternoon," said Remus with a smile. "Strictly business of course."

"Of course," said Harry and Sirius together.


	3. Strictly business

**Oh man, some of you are coming dangerously close to guessing the outcome of this story **GIGGLE** like it's all that hard! Thanks to…

Marauder – don't worry, I'll work that out later. I promise I will go and review your story, only last time I'd so nearly finished reading it and Dad nicked the connection.

Alexa Black – Well, one of them is right, but that includes number 5 so no one's going to get very far on those theories. 

Skaduky – Yeah well, I hardly take my time. (Sorry if I spelt it wrong)

Amazing Typo – Yeah! Poor you, though. Sorry about the cleaning and that. I never have time because I have to much 'homework'…Muahahahah! I'm glad you like my updating policy, only don't get too used to it – my French orals are on Wednesday and I'm terrified, do you hear me? TERRIFIED!

Tiger Lily – yeah whatever, s'long as you give me a lovely review!

Kaylin – too true, my friend, too true. He he!

WeaslyTwinsLover1112 – arrrghhhhhhh! Why do you have such a long pen name? My fingers protest every time I have to write it! **Weirdo portal voice: Get on with it! ** Ahem, right, sorry. Er, well, ok, hear is the update! **

More Pressing Matters – Like Voldemort. Chapter 3: Strictly business.

Harry hastily grabbed a jacket and pulled it on. He pulled out something very sticky and old from one of the pockets and grimaced. He wasn't sure how long he had had this jacket and not worn it. 

Oh well, he thought. He probably wouldn't need it anyway. He made to go out of the room, but after a hesitation, grabbed the Marauders Map from his trunk. Ron would be interested in how Harry was keeping tabs on Snape.

~

When Sirius, Remus and Harry arrived with a whoosh in the fireplace in the Weasley's kitchen, one of them got hit with a large flour sack that conveniently split open as it struck. 

It wasn't Remus.

It would have been Harry, but he dived out of the way just in time. 

He thanked Quidditch for his reflexes again and again as he laughed and laughed at the sight of Sirius, white from head to toe. 

Remus chuckled. When Harry looked around, he saw Fred and George, who were looking at his Godfather in horror. Both were as flour covered as the man himself. 

Ron and Ginny were hiding under the table looking disgruntled. "Have you finished yet?" Ron asked. 

"Oh, no," growled Sirius, making Ron jump so that his head banged against the wood. "We're nowhere near finished." 

And with that, he yanked out his new wand and started directing all the flour on himself, the floor and pretty much everywhere else, onto the Weasley twins.

The only trouble about this, apart from that fact that it made Fred and George sneeze so hard their heads almost fell off, was that the spell accidentally on purpose started hitting them with other, much harder things. 

"Watch it!" called Fred, as a frying pan with a mean disposition just missed his head. 

"I think they've had enough now, Sirius," said Remus with a big smile. The flour and kitchen implements dropped to the floor. 

"Spoilsport," said Sirius with a grin.

Just then Mrs Weasley came in, screamed, welcomed Harry, Sirius and Remus with a tremor in her voice, and set upon the twins. 

Everyone else made himself or herself very scarce.

"Neat wand work Sirius," said Ron when they were safe in the garden, and Hermione, who was also over for the day, had joined them.

Sirius smiled and twirled the brand new wand (ebony and unicorn hair, twelve inches) between his fingers. "I've still got it in me," he remarked.

"And he's been looking for someone to practise on since he bought it," said Remus. Everyone laughed.

"What were they doing in there, Ron?" asked Harry incredulously.  

"I have no idea. One minute Ginny and me were clearing up the breakfast things, next thing we know everything goes white and we're under the table. Something's weird though," he went on looking slightly puzzled. "I don't know where they're getting it, but all this stuff keeps appearing. All that flour, bottles of weird stuff under the mattress.." Hermione shot Ron a very accusing look.

"Well, I had to find out didn't I?" said Ron looking very innocent. "Anyway, I don't see where they're finding the money.."

"There you all are!" Harry was very glad at Mr. Weasley's interruption. He wanted the twin's newfound wealth to remain a secret.

"I've been wondering where you'd got to…" Mr. Weasley's eyes strayed to Sirius' now neatly cut hair, turned slightly grey by the flour he had not managed to rebound upon Fred and George.  

Noticing, Sirius shook it out with his hands. 

"Very energetic children you have Arthur," said Remus, and shook Mr. Weasley's hand. 

"Ah, yes," said Mr. Weasley, a little worriedly. "But we bring our own sin upon ourselves…" 

What an odd thing to say, thought Harry. But it was only a brief uncomfortable moment. Sirius sneezed loudly, making Hermione jump. They all laughed again.

~

The food was excellent of course. Mrs. Weasley's cooking always was. They ate in the garden like they had last year, before the world cup. Harry felt so full and contented afterwards that he just lay back in his chair, and let the sun warm his face. The old jacket had long since been discarded. 

He was flying on something invisible but quite solid. His body felt light with air. All he could see around him was grey mist. Although the colour was dull, the simple beauty of his surroundings took his breath away. 

Suddenly he could see below him, a house, a small cottage with thatched roof and round windows. The something invisible that he had been flying on took him down to the green painted ornate front door. He could tell that it stood beside him as he opened the door. 

_It couldn't be rude, he reasoned, because he was dreaming, and he knew that you always did what your instincts told you in dreams, and his were telling him that he had to go through that door._

_His mother and father were watching what looked like a very blurred television screen. When Harry squinted, he saw that the blur was his own face, and Dumbledore's, and Snape's, all merging into each other like paint. When Lily Potter turned to face in his direction, he knew she couldn't see him. _

_"I hate this!" she sobbed into her hands. "I hate just sitting here and watching it!"_

_"I hate it too," James assured her, turning and wrapping his arms around her. Harry remembered so clearly the details of his face, just as they had been on his fifteenth birthday. _**If you don't get that – READ THE PREQUEL! **

Lily pushed him away. "But you brought it!" she said. "Can't we just make it go away?"

_"I've tried," said James, and his voice was tired as if he had already answered this question countless times. "Nothing will get rid of it. We are meant to watch it. Maybe there is something we can do."_

_"We're dead James!" said Lily Potter. "We don't even know why we are here, why we aren't with everyone else who has died. I would have liked to see my father again… but that's just too simple isn't it? I can't even die without something going wrong…"_

_"Lily, you're hysterical," said James, and held her close. When Harry turned around, unable to watch any further, he turned, and saw the enormous silver stag that had flown him there. Then he felt a sharp pain in his ankle, and he – _

"Ouch!" yelled Harry, jumping off the seat and grabbing his ankle. Something soft and smooth slithered up his arm and settled around his neck. Ron, Hermione, Fred, George and Mrs. Weasley gasped. Ginny screeched and ran into the house. Remus, Sirius and Mr. Weasley froze. 

Sirius growled; "Stay very still Harry, don't move…"

"Why not? Said Harry. "It's just a grass snake."

_"Are they afraid of me?"_ hissed the snake with what could have been a laugh. 

_"Only because you came so suddenly,"_ answered Harry. Sirius backed off a little. 

_"I am sorry,"_ said the snake. _"But you were in a bad place. I brought you back, you see."_

_"Oh,"_ said Harry. _"Thank you. But it wasn't a very bad place surely? My parents were there."_

_"Yes," _said the snake vaguely. And then,_ "wasn't even the young red one afraid of me? She has gone away."_

_"Well, yes, she was a bit afraid of you," _said Harry with a smile. He didn't know that that smile along with the manic glint in his eye was unnerving. 

"Oh good," said the snake. "I get very little chance to be frightening." 

_"You mustn't make it a habit," _said Harry. 

_"Mustn't I?" _

_"No," _said Harry firmly_. "If you are kind and careful, you will make more friends."_

_"I don't want friends," _said the snake huffily_. "I just want to be frightening." _

It slid off Harry's neck and into the back garden. Harry sat back down again. 

Everyone except Harry breathed a sigh of relief.

"What was that all about, Harry?" asked Ron. Remus was pulling Sirius back into his normal position. Harry took off his sock and inspected the damage to his ankle. 

"Oh, nothing," he said vaguely, prodding the area with his fingers. He was hardly hurt at all.

"It just wanted to be frightening, that's all."

"Well, it did that all right," said Sirius, who was shaking. "Harry, I knew you were a Parselmouth, but hearing it and seeing it are two different things. You went…" he broke off, searching for the right words.

"Evil?" suggested Ron. 

"It can't be that bad," said Harry, putting his sock and shoe back on again. "All it said was that it wanted to be frightening, and he was sorry he arrived so suddenly and bit me, but he had to bring me back from a bad place."

"What bad place?" said at least three people. 

"I… can't remember," said Harry, but he could.  He needed to check the map now. He had to see whether Snape and Dumbledore were still at Hogwarts, but Fred and George would go mental if he did it in front of Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. 

"I'll go and find Ginny," murmured Arthur Weasley, getting up. 

"I'll clear," said Mrs. Weasley. "No, Hermione, I'll do it. There isn't much." 

What luck. As soon as both were inside the house, Harry whipped out the Marauders map from the jacket on the ground.

** **Yawn** Ok, I seriously need to sleep tonight. See you lot later after a great big reviewing session! REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ~  **


	4. Interesting Secrets and Unripe Conkers

**OK! Sorry this is taking me so long to update and stuff, reason is half homeword and half my stupid computer keeps playing up and the connection breaks before I get halfway through updating. 

Evil Snapple Pie – you're back! Yay! Yes Australia is cool, I was going to live there a few months back but the whole thing blew over. I wasn't too keen on going anyway because I'd have had to learn Japanese – I don't want a fifth language thanks! Especially not that one. You always go to the gold coast (where ever that is)? Doesn't that get boring? That's interesting how you are writing your story. Mine just kind of write themselves, I never have them planned out beyond a few chapters. It gets boring if I know what's going to happen. 

Skahducky – **weirdo portal voice** your wish is my command… 

Marauder – he he he! No seriously, I have got to get better at this…

Alexa Black – WHAT CHICKEN?

Not Sure – **to portal voice** What do I say to people who don't say anything significant that I can answer? **Weirdo portal voice** Just say thank you…** **back to you** OK then, Thanks!

Amazing Typo – What, you live in France? Really bad luck if you do.  

 Anyway… I won't keep you except to warn you that this is a kinda weird chapter

**

Harry Potter does not belong to me, or I would be extremely rich and not have to waste my precious time with you lot! Just kidding.

More Pressing Matters - Like Voldemort. Chapter 4 –

Completely forgetting about Fred, George, Remus and Sirius, Ron and Hermione leant eagerly over the map with Harry. 

Fred and George went pallid when they saw what it was, and starting coughing urgently, signalling to Harry not to wake the map in front of Sirius and Remus. 

Sirius was gazing at the tatty parchment – he hadn't seen the thing since he was at school after all. Remus was looking at Fred and George, puzzled.

Harry whipped out his wand. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Fred and George looked at him in horror. Remus stared at them. 

"I can't believe it!" said the twins together, as Harry searched the map frantically with his eyes. "We kept that secret for the best part of five years! And you're just going to show it to people willy nilly?"

"_You_ kept it secret?" said Sirius.

Harry ignored all of them. Dumbledore, where was Dumbledore? He wasn't in his office…

Ron snorted and leant back in his chair. "They knew about it before Harry did," he told the twins, indicating the two men. And then as an afterthought he added, "they knew about it before you did even."

The twins gaped. Then they grinned. "The third generation?" said George. "You were the Marauders before us?" asked Fred.

Sirius snorted even louder than Ron had. "Even better," he grunted, "we were the first. Padfoot, at your service."

"WHAT?" said Fred and George in very loud unison. They sat there, stunned, as Harry shook his head and let Sirius pick up the map.

He stroked it fondly. "I love this thing," he said. "It's the best thing we ever made. It was all James' idea of course…"

"Harry's DAD?" cried Fred. 

"Oh hell, Fred, we dumped flour on Padfoot's head! Oh @!?#, that rhymed!"  

**I seriously didn't mean for that to happen…**

"Hang on," said Fred. Neither of them seemed to realise that everyone else was too busy perusing the map to take the slightest notice of anything they were saying. 

"I think I get it. Sirius is Padfoot 'cause he's an animagus like we saw in court, Professor Lupin's Moony 'cause... well… you know… Harry's Dad's Prongs 'cause he practically smashed up the whole courtroom with those hooves, **again, reading the prequel really might be a good idea here ** and Wormtail…" Fred swallowed hard. "Oh."    

"Where is he?" said Harry thumping the table. "He hasn't been at Hogwarts since Monday, I've been checking."

"Dumbledore or Snape?" asked Sirius vaguely, his rough fingers tracing the lines that pictured Gryffindor Tower.   

"Either," said Hermione, "both are worth worrying about."

"I'm not worried about Snape," said Sirius with meaning. Ron grinned agreement. "As long as he does what he's meant to and stay on our side I don't give a damn what happens to him."

"Hear, hear," said Harry, Ron and the twins. 

"No," said Sirius. "It's Dumbledore I'm worried about. He's staying in a Ministry building for the moment, when he needs to be at Hogwarts."

"Why is he at the Ministry?" asked Ron at once. 

Hermione sighed. Really obviously. 

"Well, he's got to keep track of things, hasn't he?" she said. "It doesn't make sense to do it by owl all the time, or things would never get done."

"But then why is Minerva still at Hogwarts?" asked Remus, pointing out a dot at the far end of the map. 

"Minerva?" exclaimed Sirius. "You call her Minerva?" 

Remus went red. "As a colleague..."

"Yeah, whatever," said Sirius with a very restrained smile. "You just wanted a chance to say it."

Harry remembered that Professor McGonagall had taught the Marauders when they were at school as well. He imagined calling his teachers by their first names (except Remus because he did that anyway) and shuddered. 

"Too right," said Sirius, noticing. "Have you got over her yet, Remus?"

Everyone except Remus burst out laughing at the look on his face.

"I never ever liked…"

"Don't kid yourself," said Sirius. "You had a major crush on her, admit it, the hot_, interesting_ Transfiguration teacher…"

Ron rolled around on the ground, his sides splitting. Harry nearly fell into the remains of his apple crumble as he doubled up in his chair. 

"Oh come on," said Remus. "She was hot back then. Everyone in the year had a crush on her at some point."

"Well, I didn't. I also nearly had a severe heart attack when she came out to Hagrid's house at the end of last year to take me to Dumbledore's office and I realised who she was. If I hadn't been so worried about Harry I would have collapsed right there and then…"

The mere mention of the night made everyone stop laughing.

The deadly silence was only broken when Harry said, "look, Hagrid!"

Everyone craned their necks to look. A large dot labelled Rubeus Hagrid had just sidled onto the map from the entrance to the Forbidden Forest. 

"Good," said Remus. "It's about time." He stood up. 

"You're not going?" said Fred, downcast. He obviously wanted to hear more about the previous interesting story. 

"I must," said Remus. "I need that information. See you back home," he added to Harry and Sirius. "I'll see you all later."

And he dissapparated.

"Oh, great," said Ron. "Just when it was starting to get interesting."

"Never mind," said Sirius. "You brought your Firebolt didn't you Harry?" 

Harry had. 

"Good," said George. "Let's play some Quidditch!"

There followed a very useful game of conker Quidditch. 

It was useful mostly because Sirius was there. The man was a fanatic. The twins got so many tips from him that Harry remarked that it was a shame Oliver Wood wasn't there to see them play better than they'd ever played before. 

He got pelted with unripe conkers for that one.  

As for Harry himself, he had a whispered word with Ron while Sirius was showing the twins the 'Black Bouncer' a move he had invented himself that had a double purpose: to swing the club at a Bludger so that it hit the other Beater's head exactly, and, more importantly, make it look like the other player's foul.

Ron secretly waited until all three had come back their end of the field, both twins very bruised, Sirius looking extremely happy, until he whirled his arms very fast around his head while he was about twenty-five metres up in the air, and then let go so that the conker flew in a completely random direction. 

With all eyes on him (and not realising it) Harry sped off in a completely different direction – straight down.

He pulled out of the dive when the broom handle was about twenty centimetres from the floor. Hermione, who was watching, screamed very loudly. Harry landed and wiped his forehead. The other four landed beside him. 

Harry looked accusingly at Ron. "Why didn't you follow me?" he asked. "It was a competition, remember?"

Ron shook his head. "No way, Harry," he said. "That Wronski Feint was even better than Victor Krum's. I am not about to risk my life to lose against you, thanks."

Sirius pulled Harry into a huge hug. Harry pulled away after a few seconds, nursing bruised ribs. He wondered sometimes whether Sirius knew his own strength. 

"You must be an amazing seeker, Harry," said Sirius with pride and sadness in those sunken eyes. "Your father is so proud of you, wherever he is."

Harry thought about that when he lay in bed that night, staring up at the patterns the stars made on the ceiling. He had felt half embarrassed, half scared, he decided.

 Maybe if the others hadn't been there he would have told Sirius about the house in the clouds.  

**See? What did I tell you?  Love Laterose ^ ^**


	5. Beyond the Trees

**OK, just so everyone understands and doesn't bother me about it anymore, Harry was looking for Dumbledore and Snape on the Map because he saw them in the fuzzy television thing in the house in the clouds and his mother had said that something was happening so he tried to see where they were. Right? Good. 

Not Sure – Yep, it's insignificant. Oh well. (I hope you aren't offended I'm just really bad at being funny.

Alexa Black – To get the information from Hagrid. Don't worry I'll tell about that later. I'm glad you were just messing, I was like… a chicken? I'm sure I didn't put that in…

Dizzy Flower – Laterose is the full name of Rose, who Martin fell in love with in Martin the Warrior. She also died… **boo hoo** Yeah, I love fantasy in all shapes and sizes, but Harry Potter is so much easier to write for some reason. I dunno where the Blacks live exactly. I don't actually know anything about Australia – ask Evil Snapple Pie. Stuff under the mattress? Do you really want to know? Yeah the snake was just being kind, you could say it was compelled through it's connection to Harry… Oh I don't know. Thanks for your great review and for making me one of your favourites!

Evil Snapple Pie – Jees, you have a worse penname than Dy almost. Anyway, yeah, I'm English and I live in Britain (worse luck) I only just moved back from central Europe. Sorry about your fic I don't actually know anything about charmed (well actually I never even heard of it until a week ago and I still don't know what it is) or I would've tried to help. NO I didn't mention it before, you just need to use your imagination.

Amazing Typo – Poor you! Glad you liked it! I didn't actually realise that it rhymed until I read it through otherwise I might have embarrassed myself.

Skahducky – Good-o!

Dy – THAAAAAAAAAANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!

More Pressing Matters – Like Voldemort. Chapter 5: Beyond the trees

Harry put down his book with a thud. If anything, he was bored to tears. All his homework lay undone in a pile on the floor, but he didn't feel like doing it. 

Sirius and Remus were never at the house. They both had important things to do at the Ministry – Harry wasn't told what and he wasn't sure he wanted to know. 

Harry had already read 'Curses and Hexes' about four times since he had got back from Ron's house the week before. Just two more weeks until he went back to school, but until then, Harry had nothing to do. 

He had promised Sirius that he was fine, that he would find something to do. He had also promised Remus that none of his homework would be outstanding after the first day of term. 

**Can you see where this is going? **

 All Harry really wanted to do though was go back to that place behind the trees. Just to see what it was. Mind you, he thought, the look on Sirius' face when I mentioned it should be enough to keep me away forever. 

It wasn't though. So what was stopping him? Nothing physical. He had a key to both doors and the gate into the field the house ran onto. No one had forbidden him to walk around the village. 

Was he afraid? He didn't think so somehow. It could be just a dangerous old dump. He doubted it.

Harry's thoughts were confusing him. With a groan he rolled off the bed. 

The familiar parchment note was stuck to the door. 

_Harry,_

Sirius and I need to go into the office again today. You know where everything is by now. We might not be back until evening. 

_Sorry,_

Remus 

And the other familiar one next to it.

**_Harry,_**

****

**_I don't care if Remus says my handwriting is atrocious or whatever he says, I'm going to write my own notes, thank you very much. We're going to be out until simply forever. I'm really sorry about this. I promise next year when we've got a place of our own I'll be home as much as I can._**

****

**_Sirius._**

Harry grinned at that. Not many people were up to actually selling Sirius anything as yet. He was after all, still a much-feared figure. Sirius had promised himself that he was going to have a house before Christmas. 

Remus had laughed and said he hoped so; the house would be so much quieter without him. Harry thought that Remus would miss him like hell. Until two years ago he had been the only one of his four friends left in the real world, if you didn't count Azkaban.     

Strengthening his resolve a little, Harry made sandwiches. This time he was going in.

He got a rope from the cupboard under the stairs and as an afterthought, got one of Sirius' knives from the bottom drawer of his chest of drawers. 

(His Godfather wasn't fooling him, Harry had found out where all his Muggle weapons were on the first day). 

He thought that it mightn't do for Muggles to see any flashes of magic from the 'old dump', not until he was inside anyway. 

The moment Harry stepped outside of the front door into Cottoning Lane, something called to him. Although he couldn't hear actual words, something seemed to be telling him to go back, as though it could sense his purpose. Harry knew it couldn't be the front door, because if it had cared it would have told him outright. 

(All the door usually said was things like 'have a nice day!' 'Be back in time for tea' and 'don't talk to strangers you buffoon!') 

What Harry felt now felt oddly like the Imperious Curse. Harry shook it off. He wasn't in the mood. Well, it wasn't like he had anything better to do with his time, except…

"Hi there Harry! Where are you going?"

Harry groaned. "Hullo Colin."

"Where are you off to Harry?"

"Oh… nowhere in particular."

"Great! You can come over! I've been meaning to ask you…" In actual fact Harry had escaped five times before Colin had managed to ask. "Only I guess I forgot."

"Er… well… I'd love to come Colin… only I'm meant to ask before I go over other people's houses. Sirius is very protective…"

"But we only live just over the road!"

"Yeah," said Harry, with a big sigh. "He's _really_ protective. Sorry Colin. Maybe another time." 

"OK," said Colin with a little shrug. He looked really disappointed. 

If Harry hadn't had something to do which he considered really important just then, he would have changed his mind and gone along with Colin just to stop him looking at Harry like a spanked puppy. As it was, Harry just promised himself for the hundredth time to spend more time with his annoying neighbour. 

Anyone listening might have thought he was being cruel, but Harry knew that once he got into that house it would be hours before he could get out again.  

So he said his goodbyes to Colin and continued walking firmly down the street, ignoring whatever it was that pulled on his senses and told him to go back. 

At last he reached the circle of pine trees. He realised what had been so odd about the trees before – they weren't native plants. Someone had planted them there. 

Well, thought Harry. That was obvious, wasn't it? If Sirius and Remus weren't about to let him go down there, and he was fifteen, other parents would be unlikely to want their children wandering willy nilly among – whatever was down there.

Harry found a sheltered spot where no one could see him, round the back of the circle, the opposite side to Cottoning Lane. 

The first thing he tried was the rope. It snagged easily on the criss-cross branches, but as soon as Harry started to climb it snapped off, and he fell two metres back to earth, bruising his knees. 

The second time worked a little better, but Harry stopped quickly when he realised his t-shirt was torn in three places. 

Normally he wouldn't have cared a jot about Dudley's old Mega Mutilation 2 shove-on, but if Sirius noticed he'd be for it. 

Luckily Harry had an almost identical one with a 3 on it, that Dudley had discarded once the forth version came out. 

The knife was even less successful. It blunted after about ten minutes of sawing at rock hard twigs, and Harry hadn't even made an opening big enough for his hand to get through. 

There was only one thing for it. Standing back, Harry took out his wand.

"Reducto," he whispered. The spell blasted a hole about two by two centimetres. When Harry looked through he could see nothing but the blue sky beyond. With a sigh, and as little noise and light as possible, he started to demolish the branches before him bit by bit. 

It took a very long time. The sun was high overhead before he'd finished, and when he thought he had made a space big enough to crawl through, he stopped for breath, and to devour his sandwiches. 

Frankly he couldn't see why he was still bothered. What he could see through the gap he had made certainly looked like a dump. 

When he had finished **are you ready? ** he took a really deep breath and crawled through, feeling like a little kid raiding the kitchen (which he'd done quite a few time, remember).

It was what looked like the blackened remains of an old house. Bits of wall stood up all over the place, and Harry could see a pile of rotten woodwork at the far end. 

Not far from where he stood, a two dirty white signs stood. The oldest said: 'Danger. Unsafe. Warning.' 

The other said: 'This site is being monitored under strict Ministry guidelines. Please do not come any closer as the structure is unstable. Please do not attempt building.'

That last was odd, thought Harry. He ignored the first sign, it was obviously a Muggle one. But the second…

'Please do not attempt building…'

Overcome with curiosity and excitement, Harry picked up some of the wood, wincing as all manner of nasty insects crawled over his hands.  

He stuck two planks vertically into the rubble. Shaking for some reason, he balanced a third plank vertically across them.

Harry dived out of the way just in time to avoid being badly burnt as the crude structure exploded, and crumbled away. 

Stunned, Harry stared at the wood as it sank into the rubble, which swallowed it. 

'Do not attempt building…'

Harry looked up suddenly. He could hear something crunching, as though something was walking towards him. Quickly he hid behind half a mouldy sofa. It could have been blue one time, but now it was as scorched and black as the rest of the place. 

Breathing hard, he listened as the footsteps grew closer and closer. Closing his eyes, he wondered whether to make a run for it, stand up and fight, or stay where he was, the bugs and maggots crawling down his collar. 

When he opened his eyes, his gaze fixed on a large, square piece of wood. Although blackened like everything else, Harry could tell it had once been a house sign, like Muggles on Cottoning Lane had on their gates saying things like 'Tumbledown Home' or a number, or a little motto like 'Beware of the Dog.' 

Sirius had thought those ones were cute until Remus had suggested he stick one on his gate when he got his own house. 

Harry stared at this particular one. Through the soot he could just make it out.

It said 'Godric's Holl…' the rest had been burnt off. 

Harry stared at the sign with such intensity that he didn't realise the footsteps had stopped right behind his hiding place until someone grabbed him by the collar and he was pulled roughly to his feet.

"I am going to kill you," said Sirius.

**He has finally done it! **Wild clapping** Please review! I'm addicted to them; you know… must have… reviews… neeeeed… cannot… survive… 

Laterose. **


	6. The House in the Clouds

**Yep, Harry's dead meat. I can't believe I'm already on chapter six. I feel like I've only done three chapters.

Evil Snapple Pie – You never annoyed me! **

Lunar Writer – Erm.. good question actually. Maybe I murdered something just so the axe would be scary but I'm not really that sort of person. Let's call it a Metaphor. Glad you liked both fics.

More Pressing Matters – Like Voldemort. Chapter 6 – The House in the Clouds.

It took Sirius a very long time to calm down. He had dragged Harry all the way back up the street by the back of his t-shirt, with Remus and a couple of Ministry Wizards close behind them.

They had already been there, about twenty of them, searching among the debris for something or other. Right now, Harry didn't dare ask what that something might be. 

Once all five were in the living room, Sirius let Harry drop into a chair while he paced the rug before the fire, so firmly that before long he would wear a hole in it.

The lecture was a long one.

"I can't believe you went down there, after we expressly told you not to, you might have got hurt, and who would have been there to help?

You are very, very lucky that we decided to go down there today. If we hadn't been there who knows what might have happened? 

And after I forbade you to go down there and snoop around, you go down there with a rope and a knife and deliberately cut a way through. I saw them, there's no use trying to deny it Harry. 

You're fifteen years old for God's sake, I would never have expected this kind of behaviour from you…"

And so it went on. Harry was very uncomfortable, but not sorry. When at last Sirius had stopped repeating himself and sank onto the sofa next to Remus, who was also looking at Harry sternly, Harry whispered, so that no one could hear, "and what about your behaviour?"

"Well, Harry," said Remus, disappointment in his voice. "What have you got to say for yourself?"

Harry felt like a child being lectured by a Nanny, but he wasn't going to stand for it.

"You lied to me," said Harry quietly. The Ministry Wizards leaned forward to catch his words. "I could tell you were lying. I wanted to see for myself."

"Would you have stayed away if we'd told you the truth?" asked Remus. 

"I don't know," said Harry. "Well, yes, I suppose, if I had a good reason."

"Well, we have one," groaned Sirius. "I can't believe it. How did you get through the spell?"

"What spell?" asked Harry. "There weren't spells on the trees were there?"

"No" said Remus. "The mere stubbornness of the trees themselves are enough to keep Muggles out, and all the wizards are too scared to go near the place anyway."

"We put a spell on the front door," interrupted Sirius. "So that you wouldn't go haring off down there even if the urge took you. A bit like the Imperious Curse, only legal."

"Oh, that," said Harry, a little offended at his Godfather's mistrust until he realised that Sirius didn't have a reason to trust him anymore. "That's not as hard as the Imperious Curse. I threw it off."

The Ministry Wizards stared at him, Sirius looked livid, and Remus interested. 

"YOU THREW IT OFF?" cried Sirius, not angry now but purely shocked. "I don't suppose you can throw off the Imperious Curse entirely too?"

"Of course," said Harry. This was starting to get a little too personal. What was the point of this? All he wanted to know was why had Sirius and Remus lied to him about his parent's old house – his old house? What was so dangerous? 

Harry asked them. Neither answered. Then Remus said, "After they cleared the bodies away, they started trying to rebuild some of the house. They didn't bother removing the furniture because another squad was coming to pick that up later. 

As soon as bricks were laid upon bricks, or platforms set up, they exploded. Two wizards and a Muggle died. The Muggles blamed it on the story that had been spread: there had been a gas leak in the old house that had blown the place up. 

They've never tried building on that site since. The trees were planted when Muggle children started playing with the rubble. A few were grievously injured. 

We didn't tell you about it Harry, because we want you to be happy. Shades of the past do not bring back the past."

Harry remembered the queer events at Sirius' trial and was about to argue with that, but decided that Sirius' temper should not be tested right now. 

"But why do things keep blowing up?" asked Harry. 

"Because a terrible and heartless thing took place there. The theory is similar to that of unicorn blood. Godric's Hollow is not the only place where this happens, Harry. There are several similar sites all over the world."

"Oh." Harry wondered whether Sirius would ever forgive him. He risked a brief glance in his direction. He wanted to apologise – but hell, it was Sirius' fault! If only they'd told him before he went down there…

As though reading his thoughts, Sirius looked up and sighed. 

"I'm sorry, Harry. I didn't mean to get angry with you. I was just really, really scared that you were hurt. I don't ever want to lose you like I did your Father, Harry…"

Harry got up. His stomach and chest were empty, he felt like a hollow shell. 

"I'm sorry too, Sirius," he said.

~

Harry had a lot to think about that night. He tried to work out how he felt. He was angry with Sirius and Remus, he knew. Why hadn't they just told him?

He was sad. He didn't know why as such – except that when he had seen that sign in the blackened wreckage of his first home that he couldn't even remember, something had torn his heart, and all he could think of was his father and the last time they had met.

"Goodbye Remus. And… Sirius. Good… good luck, you know with Voldemort and that sort of thing. Professor,"_ he nodded in Dumbledore's direction. And then…_

"Harry,"_ the shade of James Potter said. _"I… we miss you. We love you, always remember that. Be brave Harry. Be careful."

"We'll watch out for him, James." That was Sirius' voice. Harry didn't register it. 

"Harry,"_ said James Potter more urgently. _"I love you. Your mother loves you. I'll always be here." _He held out his hand. _

_When Harry touched it, he felt cold rough skin, so solid, so real… and then he was gone. The tears welled up in Harry's eyes, but he refused to let them fall. He forgot how long he stood there, with Sirius' and Remus' arms around him as he gazed unseeingly at the empty space, the wooden floor where his father had stood, littered with parchment and spilled ink._

Where are you now then, Dad? Harry asked silently. You're not here. You're not lying somewhere underneath all the mess at our old place. You're not even in heaven are you? What did Mum say…?

_We're dead James!" said Lily Potter. "We don't even know why we are here, why we aren't with everyone else who has died. I would have liked to see my father again… but that's just too simple isn't it? I can't even die without something going wrong…"_

The House in the Clouds… Harry gave up after a while when he got a headache.

Sirius poked his head around the door. "Harry?" he asked softly into the dark room. There was no answer. Shaking his head, Sirius looked around before closing the door again. He promised himself for the hundredth time that he was going to get his own place.

_The enormous stag carried Harry through the endless swirl of white-grey mist. Wasn't it grey before? Harry wondered. After a while he asked the stag, "Are we going to the same place we did last time?"_

_"Yes," said the stag._

_"Then why is it taking so much longer?"_

_"Because it is further away." _

_Harry didn't understand, but kept quiet for a while. Then he said, "Why must we go?"_

_"Because you need to see."_

_Harry was strongly reminded of a centaur. _

_At last they had made it, as they landed in the neat garden of summer flowers._

_Harry went to the door and hesitated. Then he opened it. The fuzzy screen was now dark. It hung in midair like a hole into nothingness. _

_Lily Potter was asleep on the sofa this time, but Harry's father was watching the inky blot in the centre of their living room. _

_It stayed black, but suddenly Harry could hear a voice coming from it, a familiar voice. Suddenly he recognised it as his own, but he could not remember speaking the words in his lifetime._

_It's my thoughts, he realised with horror. He can hear my thoughts. _

_"Where are you now then, Dad? You're not here. You're not lying somewhere underneath all the mess at our old place. You're not even in heaven are you?" _

_James hung his head. Harry felt sick with guilt, but he couldn't help wild thoughts could he? It's not as if he had meant anything by it._

_Someone else's thoughts drifted from the blank fuzz. "What am I doing? One day I will get caught, I will, there's no stopping it, but Dumbledore has given me this chance, I won't throw it up… I don't even like these people! _

_The Death Eaters had ideas, style, ambition, what is this side of you, Severus? Oh, I've got to stop thinking like this, one day I will start thinking out loud…" _

_That drew a laugh from Harry, though a bitter one. Snape was quite an interesting person from the inside it seemed…_

_He had little time to think as another familiar voice met his ears._

_"What am I going to do? Hell, I wasn't cut out for this. To become as good as a father at my age… Oh, I know he can look after himself, but the question is, how much do I tell him? _

_Well, I can add today to my list of mistakes, right after 'get arrested'. Man I have sick humour. _

_Oh James, how'd I get landed in this position? I won't even have Remus to help me the week Harry goes back to school. I hadn't realised this before but not having him around for a quarter of the time is a complete pain in the…"_

_"Come away," said a voice from behind Harry. "We came at the wrong time again."_

_Harry was reluctant to leave, he wanted to see what everyone else in the world was thinking, but he climbed gracefully onto the stag's back, and let it carry him away back to Cottoning Lane._

**Well, what do you make of that? Any mysteries will be explained later – I hope. I do actually have a plan but it might be a while before I actually get there.  Love Laterose ^ ^ **


	7. The Second Voice Brother

**Hi! Jees, sorry I've taken so long to update, mostly I've been working out ideas for this fic. I've got a great plan now! Well, I think it's great. I can tell you that I am going to spoil one of the characters, rather like how people spoil Sirius by making him gay (j/k!). 

I know you'll like it. Well, I hope you do. Thanks to reviewers, though there were pathetically few of them….

Er... right! Anyway, up with the chapter, I hope it's not too sad for words, but I can't stick Colin.

Yeah, sorry about the italics everyone, sometimes they get lost, you just have to imagine they're there.

More Pressing Matters – Like Voldemort. Chapter 7:  The Second Voice Brother.

As recompense for being so mean to Colin the previous day, Harry agreed to go to Colin's house once Colin had once again stuttered out his invitation. 

Colin was ecstatic. He took Harry on a long, detailed tour of his little house, which included things like:

"This is the upstairs bathroom, I got to choose the tiles and everything. Notice the engraving around the mirror? My Grandfather did that. My Dad's got a picture of him; I'll show you later. 

Isn't it clever how everything matches? My dad has a degree in interior design – oh look! Dad's got the soap in the shape of an elephant! Cool!"

Poor kid, thought Harry as he was dragged through the rooms and stuffed with Colin's family history. 

After seeing the rest of the house, Harry doubted that Mr. Creevy the milkman had a degree in interior design, art, economics, sculpture, or pretty much anything similar. 

Harry wondered whether Colin's dad was colour-blind. 

They didn't go into Dennis' room. Colin was very quiet passing the door, and Harry got the feeling that Colin wanted to keep Harry all to himself. 

When they had finally finished after about an hour of Harry smiling, nodding, and pretending to be interested, Colin made up a tray of juice and chocolate biscuits and brought it up to his bedroom, which was painted an eye smarting yellow after Colin's Quidditch team, the Leister Lightnings, whose logo was slung haphazardly above the window.

A huge Gryffindor flag covered one wall, and a photo Harry recognised was pinned above the foot of Colin's bed, so he could see it before he went to sleep.

This made Harry want to puke, but he didn't because he felt like he needed a chocolate biscuit. 

Instead he sat on the bed and watched the photograph. 

Gilderoy Lockhart was fast asleep on one side of the photo. Harry himself was sitting on the other side. He smiled when he saw the real Harry, and then sidled out of the picture to chat to Rowan Herring from the Lightnings in the poster nearby.

Startling Harry, a black cat wriggled out from under the bed, between his legs. Tail arched, it leaped into Colin's arms, which had only just let go of the tray. It hissed at Harry.

"Sorry," mumbled Colin, trying in vain to get the cat under control. 

"Who's that?" asked Harry, and then wished he hadn't, because he was sure that Colin would entreat him to every miniscule detail as to who the cat was.

He didn't though. He shrugged at said vaguely, "her name's Diane. She's mine."

"Do you like cats?' asked Harry, watching Diane, who was spitting and trying to rip up Colin's arm. He put her down and she jumped out of the window with cat-like dignity.

"Yes," said Colin. "They're interesting. And Diane is nice – most of the time. She doesn't take kindly to strangers. I think she was abused – she just turned up one day and Dad let me keep her."

And that was all that was said on the subject. 

Harry didn't have such a bad time. It was better, he supposed, than sitting at home doing nothing, which is what he would have been doing had he not been here. 

They spent a few hours just talking. Harry skipped over it any time Colin tried to bring up the Triwizard Tournament. Colin obviously was very interested, but, knowing Colin, Harry was not going to tell him what he had not yet told Harry and Hermione. 

Harry once brought the subject round to Colin's family when he was sick of talking about himself. 

"Colin, do you have a mother at all?"

Dumb question, he thought immediately, as Colin's face clouded over. 

"She died when I was born," he said. "Dennis has a different mum. Dad doesn't talk about either of them, so we don't either." 

Harry left it at that, although he did think it a bit rich how Colin kept on questioning Harry about his own parents, when it was obvious he couldn't answer half the questions.

Harry helped Colin with his transfiguration homework, which was one of the easiest assignments Harry had ever had to do the previous year. Colin was plainly stumped.

It was fun, in a way, to know something and to help others understand it. Harry started to understand why people became teachers, but still knew he would die before he ever actually became one himself.

"Thanks, Harry," said Colin gratefully when they had finished. "You're really good at this, you know."

"Nah," said Harry, embarrassed. "That's Hermione, she - " 

"_Mmm… tasty…"_

The words were spoken in Parseltongue.

_"Cat, a long time since I have tasted cat…"_

"Colin!" exclaimed Harry. "A snake's trying to eat your cat!"

"What?" said Colin. He sounded worried, not for Diane, but for Harry.

Harry ignored him, and dashed to the window. He felt Colin come up behind him as he saw what he was looking for. A streak of black, followed by a streak of green.

_"Stop!" _he called.

Colin squealed. 

The snake stopped chasing Diane, who ran back into the house so fast she could barely be seen, and looked around for the hissing voice.

_"Who is there?"_ it asked.

_"Up here,"_ said Harry.

"Why are you still talking to it?" squeaked Colin. "Make it go away."

The snake raised itself onto it's tail and cocked it's head to an uncomfortable angle. The effect was chilling. This was no grass snake. It was a fully-fledged adder, albeit a small one. 

_"Ah yes,"_ it said, dropping it's scaly body back to the ground. _"The second voice brother."_

_"Do all snakes know who I am?" _asked Harry incredulously. 

_"Of course," _said the snake.

Great, thought Harry. I'm even famous in the snake world.

_"Why are you here?"_ he asked the adder. _"I've never seen any wild snakes at all until this summer, and know I've seen two hanging around people."_

He expected a curt reply such as, 'well, you never look properly, do you?' but instead the snake hissed softly and replied in what might be called an undertone.

_"The first voice brother is calling us. He is strong. We know not why we go, but we answer his calls."_

_"But you mustn't!"_ exclaimed Harry in a very loud hiss that made Colin back off quickly.

_"Why ever not?"_ asked the snake. _"The first voice brother was here well before your time. He is wise beyond your years_."

_"Yes, and evil!"_ Harry pleaded with the snake. _"You mustn't go to him, he wants to rule the world. He will get you all killed. If you go around killing cats and dogs and people and scaring them or whatever, the humans will come and kill you, and then they will kill Vol – the first voice brother. And if the first voice brother isn't killed, then he will kill me."_

Harry knew that sounded a bit selfish, but he sat quiet for a moment to watch the snake think. It was quite interesting. The adder was wearing a look of concentration only snakes can achieve.

_"I will ask my kin," _it said after a while. 

Harry felt the call. It shivered through his bones, overtook his very senses, all the time with the snake's voice hissing through his brain.

_"The Second Voice Brother says that the First Voice Brother is evil and will kill us all." _

And then Harry felt every single snake in the world answer, and he blacked out.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Harry!"

"Mmmm?"

"Harry, wake up!" someone was slapping his face.

Harry sat up. Colin stared at him with wide eyes. "Harry, what happened? One minute you were talking to the… snake, and then you fainted! Are you all right?"

"Yeah," said Harry, getting up. "Thanks for everything Colin. I've got to go."

"What?" said Colin. "You haven't had any cake yet! There's some left over…"

"No, sorry Colin. Another time, I promise. I have to tell Sirius something." He left. 

"That wasn't very nice, was it Diana?" said Colin to the cat who had somehow entered the room when Harry had been out of it on the floor. 

The cat's eyes glowed luminous green.

**Dun dun dun! Well, that went quite well I think, considering I just went on an Art trip to London and am now feeling like dropping into bed.

Love your pal Laterose… Until Next Time! Muahahahahahahaha!!!! **


	8. The Unexpected Death Eater

** Hello at last! Sorry about the long wait. I had this English assignment that took me 4 whole days to do, and yesterday I didn't feel like doing anything except sleeping. 

I've decided to wrap it up today – and you'll see what I mean about ruining a character. (Best thing that's ever happened to him really, in my opinion). 

Sorry if it's an abrupt ending, I'm not very good at them. 

OH, yeah, what do you lot think bios are for? If you really want to know stuff, check there first!!! **

More Pressing Matters – Like Voldemort. Chapter 8 – The Unexpected Death Eater.

Harry stood among the wreckage of his parent's old house, staring at the remains of what had once been a tender, loving place, blackened and destroyed.

**FLASHBACK**

Harry ran through the thousands of people flocking around the desks. He couldn't see anyone he recognised. He stopped and stared around. 

Sirius had told him that if he had any problems he should use Floo powder to get to the Ministry immediately. The trouble was, Harry had never been in the building before, and it was somewhat confusing. 

For one thing, the place was enormous. Harry could have stood at one end of the entrance hall alone and not be able to see the other side, although that was probably caused by the other visitors pushing and shoving to get to where they wanted, or even to stay upright. 

Suddenly Harry saw a black head accompanied by a brown-grey one. Ducking underneath people's arms while still trying to keep them in sight, Harry made his way towards Remus and Sirius. 

They couldn't hear him when he called their names. Harry kept moving, noticing that the crowds were slowly thinning as they travelled down twisting corridors and up and down flights of stairs. 

Suddenly he lost sight of them. He was just about to give up when he noticed a door to the side of the corridor he was currently standing in. When he moved close to it he could hear voices coming from the room beyond. 

Harry knocked nervously on the oak door. A few moments silence and then the door was opened by… Remus. 

"Harry!" Remus stood back and let Harry inside. Seated at a huge table were Sirius, Dumbledore, quite a few other Hogwarts teachers, some ministry officials, and an important looking man Harry didn't know. 

Sirius stood up. "Harry – what's happened?"

Harry hesitated, wondering where to start. "Is it serious, Harry?" asked Dumbledore. The look on Harry's face seemed to be enough for the Headmaster. He nodded to the important looking stranger. 

"This is Reginald Greening, Harry," said Dumbledore. "He's the vice-Minister for Magic. You may not of heard of him… he…ah…"

"I don't get much say in things," growled Reginald Greening. "I do paperwork mostly. But that's not to say I ain't worth my salt, eh Professor?"

"Sit down Harry," said Dumbledore with a smile. "Tell us what happened."  

"Calm down Sirius," said Harry as he sat down. "I'm fine, no one's been killed – yet." He told them all about the snake. When he'd got to the bit about the call and the answer that had made him pass out, he stopped. 

"Yes?" said Greening eagerly. "What did they say?"

"I… I don't know," said Harry. "I fainted right after, it was like every single snake in the world was inside my head, like we shared brains, there were just so many of them…"

"Well," said Dumbledore. "We shall have to assume that the snakes didn't take Harry's word. We could have a major pest problem tomorrow everyone."

"I shouldn't think they'd make it before tomorrow," thought Harry out loud. "The British ones will, but some of them have to travel from Australia and places like that."

"Australia?" laughed Sirius. "What're they going to do, swim?"

"They'll probably stow away on ships," said Harry seriously. "They're smart, snakes."

"We've got about a week then," said Greening. 

**END FLASHBACK**

Harry stood slightly back from the actual house ruins, unwilling to nearly get blown up again. 

Sirius would not be pleased if he found out Harry had come back, but Harry had just wanted to get one final look at it before he went back to Hogwarts the day after tomorrow. 

Suddenly he heard voices. One sounded oddly familiar. Being very careful not to step on anything and make a noise, Harry made his way slowly around the back of the ruined house. 

The muffled voices gradually became decipherable as words. 

"This is the place…" 

"Are you sure? He will be angry if you make a mistake."

That second voice had been a woman's.

"I am sure. No one comes here anymore. Potter managed to sneak in the other day but his guardian told father that he was never letting him come anywhere near it again." That voice was so familiar…

"Very well. We leave now. I will notify Him in a few days."

Realising the two people were retreating, Harry poked his head around the corner to try and catch a glimpse of them. 

All he saw was a small black figure moving away from him. It looked Diane. Harry sighed. His nerves were jangling. He was pretty sure that the two he had heard talking had been Death Eaters. 

The cat looked around, as if checking to see if anyone was watching it. Harry was sure now that it was Colin's cat. 

Harry ducked out of sight, he didn't know why, but when he turned around again he saw a faint flash of luminous green in the cat's amber eyes. 

There was definitely something funny about that cat. 

~

Harry hadn't been able to pluck up the guts to tell Sirius or Remus about his last visit to his parent's old house. Besides he liked it better this way. 

So what if Voldemort was there tonight? He wasn't going to jump in and fight him. If it was just a joke, a gang of village kids, then Harry was haring off home to bed. 

And if it was Death Eaters, Harry was haring off home to tell Sirius, who would be too worried about Voldemort to get mad at Harry. 

The first thing Harry noticed when he stepped silently out of the door was Diane the cat. 

She was running back towards Colin's house. 

Harry ran round to the back of Colin's garden fence and climbed it, narrowly avoiding the dustbins, and ducked behind the lawnmower just in time to see Diane transform. 

I'm having a bad few years with Animagi, thought Harry. I should lodge a complaint. They aren't nearly close enough to having registered all of them.

Diane was in fact a tall woman with long blonde hair. Her eyes glowed green slightly as she turned, as if startled. Harry ducked. 

He couldn't see it, but the woman smiled. Pulling out a wand, she yelled a curse. 

The lawnmower exploded. Harry stood up. 

"Mr. Creevy won't be too happy about that," said Harry offhandedly. "You blowing up his lawnmower and all."

"Is that what it is?" said Diane the cat/woman carelessly. "Muggles are so silly aren't they? A simple severing charm does it in seconds." 

All the time her wand was on Harry. He knew that he'd never reach his own wand in time. 

"Mother?" said a voice from the back door of the Creevy's house. "Is that you, Mother?"

"Yes dear," called Diane without looking around. "Come and see what a big fish I've caught." 

Harry gaped as Colin turned the corner. 

He laughed when he saw Harry. "Aren't you nosy, Harry?" he said. 

"Colin!" exclaimed Harry. "What's going on?"

Colin only laughed even harder. "This is my Mother Diane, Harry," he said. "A waste of hard work really," he added to the cat woman. 

"W…what do you mean?" said Harry, although he thought he knew the answer.

"I've tried so hard Harry," said Colin, his eyes as cold and evil as his mother's. His voice wasn't squeaky anymore, which must have been why Harry hadn't recognised his voice the day before. 

"Following you around at school all the time, did you really think I liked you? Do you have any idea," he went on, shaking as if he'd been wanting to tell Harry this for a very long time, "how hard it is to speak falsetto when your voice is breaking?" 

He put on a squeak. "Oh, Harry! Will you let me have a picture Harry? Will you sign it? Please don't leave me on my larry Harry. I really hope you do well in the tournament Harry… As if," he added in his normal, deeper voice.

Harry was shocked. Out of all the people to be Death Eaters… Colin?

But there was no backing out of it now. 

"What about your Dad?" asked Harry.

"He doesn't know," said Colin. "He still thinks she's dead."

"That's sick," said Harry. "Deceiving your own father…"

"I'll do what I like, thank you," said Colin. Slowly, he drew out his wand. "Let me help you Mum," he said. "I've waited a long time for this."

"Don't you dare!" exclaimed Diane, turning to look at him. "This one's for… wait? Where is he??!!"

Harry had vaulted the fence as soon as she'd turned. Running flat out, he blasted red sparks into the air at intervals, aware of Colin and his mother climbing the fence behind him. 

For the first time, Harry was very glad that he lived so close. He leaped at his own fence when he reached it. 

His hands scraped painfully on the top of the wood. This fence was much higher than the Creevys'. 

Pulling himself up inch by painful inch, Harry managed to haul himself over it just in time to prevent himself from getting hit by a Stunner that smashed into the wooden slats just as he fell straight on top of the closed dustbin.

Remus was there, no doubt alerted by Harry's sparks, which had made a hell of a lot of noise. 

"Where's Sirius?" asked Harry, panting, as more Stunners hit the fence. 

"Contacting Dumbledore," said Remus. "Harry, are you all…"

But he was cut off as the fence he had built with his own two hands blasted apart in a shower of splinters. When Harry whirled around, he saw Colin and Diane standing triumphantly with their wands pointed at the two of them. 

"Get out of it Lupin," said Colin with a sneer. "Move, and if you're lucky you'll live to see tomorrow."

Harry very much doubted that Colin meant that. About Remus living, anyway. 

Alastor Moody and Professor Dumbledore apparated right on top of Colin and his mother. 

"Up you come my lad," said Dumbledore, grabbing Colin by both arms and forcing him to let go of his weapon. 

Moody had Diane Creevy at wand point.

Sirius skidded onto the scene seconds after about twenty people had materialised in Remus' garden. All of them were very shocked at the sight that met their eyes. 

Harry didn't care. Let someone else work it out for a change. He had his own problems.

As Sirius came running towards Harry with a look of both anger and concern, Harry tried to smile. He had survived. Everything could be a lot worse.

THE END

**Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, but what else could I end it with eh? Aliens invading? Actually that might not be such a bad idea… ahem. Anyway. Hope you like the ending. 

READ THIS. IT'S IMPORTANT. 

I'm starting something new now. It's a kind of reader's choice thing, you know? Harry messes about with a time turner and ends up in his Father's time. You get to pick which characters go after him! It won't be up for a week though  - I'm on holiday!!! – I love half term! -  Please tell me what you think of this idea. I'll try and give it a good ending once we run out of characters. 

Love Laterose. (But not for the last time! Muahahahahaha!)


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